When the Jacksonville Baptist Association retired its mortgage debt earlier this year, there was no doubt in Lead Missional Strategist Rick Wheeler’s mind what to do with the extra money in their budget.
He would get it back in the hands of JBA churches.
So the same day that JBA network pastors, leaders and friends gathered to celebrate the burning of the association’s mortgage note, Wheeler unveiled a plan for a micro loan initiative, allowing churches ...

The Southern Baptist Conference of Associational Leaders is putting together a panel whose purpose will be to clarify, modernize and establish a credentialing process for the role of associational leaders throughout the country.
Florida’s own Rick Wheeler, lead missional strategist for the Jacksonville Baptist Association, has been tapped to head up the associational study team. Following its nomination by the SBC Executive Committee, the group will be commissioned at the SBCAL meeting in Phoenix on June 11.
Though not ...

The churches of the Jacksonville Baptist Association gathered recently to celebrate the final mortgage payment on the Association offices located at 2700 University Blvd. in Jacksonville.
The Burn the Note BBQ, as it was aptly named, was a picnic designed to celebrate the generosity of the JBA churches that made it possible not only to pay off the 20-year note, but to do it a year early.
“We are overwhelmed by God’s generosity through His churches,” said ...